1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to reproduction apparatus for automatic production of signatures from individual ordered originals for the formation of booklets.
2. Background Art
A signature is a sheet containing plural printed pages arranged such that when the sheets are folded and nested in a set, one inside the other, they become one collated booklet. Normally, documents are presented to copiers and printers in page number order, and with only one page on each sheet face. It is generally intended to create booklets having the same page order. However, if the booklets are formed from folded and nested sheets which each carry four page images (two on the front and two on the back) in their original page sequence, the booklets would contain page images in an illogical order.
Accordingly, it is known that a non-sequential placement of images on each signature is essential to providing a finished booklet with a direct sequential page order. Most prior art signature copy production systems require manual page reordering which is relatively complex and not easily understood or used by the typical casual operator.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,727,402, which issued to R. E. Smith on Feb. 23, 1988, discloses an automatic original document sheet reordering technique for input documents in the production of signatures to form booklets with a copier. An automatic duplexing copier simultaneously presents plural original document sheets to an imaging station in a predetermined, nonserial page order. A normal serial set of original document sheets are loaded into an automatic document reordering and presenting system for presentation to the imager. The Smith system requires repeated recirculation of the original documents through a recirculating document handler until the proper page order is obtained. This is both time consuming and subject to a greatly increased risk of paper jams in the document handler due to the large number of times that the original documents must recirculate through the handler.